cacao

They hope to create cacao seeds able to thrive in warmer climates

(Newser) -
While chocolate prices have fallen in recent years , you can expect a massive price hike by 2050 unless scientists at the UC Berkeley Innovative Genomics Institute reach their goal. Together with the Mars company, scientists are working to create a genetically modified form of cacao that can withstand the effects...
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Coco Loko cacao powder delivers a 'euphoric' high, say makers

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You can eat it and drink it, so why not inhale it? That's the thinking behind Coco Loko, a new "snortable" chocolate powder billed as a legal way to get high, the Washington Post reports. The newfangled nose candy leaves snorters with a "euphoric" feeling "but...
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Cacao is turning into the drug of choice for partiers

(Newser) -
Partiers at dance clubs and raves around the world are snorting a new drug to get their high: the chocolate ingredient cacao. You read that right. Raw cacao's rise as the hot new party drug started in Berlin—which IFL Science calls the "hipster capital of the world....
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American and Peruvian researchers scour the Amazon for wild cacao trees

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In 2008 and 2009, American and Peruvian scientists joined forces on a hunt for sweet treasure—new kinds of chocolate. They explored the Amazon Basin, searching for wild cacao trees—which produce the beans that go into chocolate—and discovered 342 specimens from 12 watersheds, reports NPR . Each new cacao...
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Call it a 'super-fruit,' researchers say

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Chocolate lovers, rejoice: Your beloved treat may actually be healthier than fruit juice. A comparison of cocoa products to fruit juice powders suggests dark chocolate has more antioxidant power than juices, as well as more of certain chemicals that are good for your heart, the New York Daily News reports....
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(Newser) -
Sure, the global economy might collapse spectacularly and send us all back to a barter system. But that’s inefficient, Greg Sabin writes on Mental Floss, and “almost all civilizations have come up with currencies.” A sampling of what might be in your wallet next week:

Hershey's helps anthropologist solve mystery of old vessels

(Newser) -
Patricia Crown, an anthropologist at the University of New Mexico, spent years puzzling over the round clay jars decorated with intricate zigzagging shapes, dating from the 11th century, found in Pueblo ruins in Chaco Canyon. But a scientific study led her to a surprising conclusion: they weren't drums or holders...
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Mars aims to unlock genetic code to develop hardier cacao trees

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Candy giant Mars is investing $10 million in a 5-year research project to unlock the secrets of chocolate's genetic code—the cocoa genome—as the first stage in developing cacao trees that can produce more, survive droughts, and combat disease. Mars intends to make the results public to stop key...
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